“I want to see them all fried” Half sister of man held captive for over 20 years speaks out

WATERBURY, Conn. (WFSB) - Heather Tessman says she has been looking for her half brother for more than a decade.

She says she found out with the rest of the world that her half brother was held captive in Waterbury for over 20 years.

Tessman always wondered what had happened to her half brother when they were young.

She did the math, and when he was 18, she started searching social media, ancestry sites and court records, but nothing came up.

That is because police say he was held in a small room in a house in Waterbury for over 2 decades.

“I love you. I’ve been looking for you,” Tessman said.

Little did Tessman know, he was just 12 miles away facing daily abuse, starvation, and torture.

“We just need him to know he’s got people. We love him and we want him. He shouldn’t have been thrown away like garbage,” Tessman said.

The victim’s stepmother, Kimberley Sullivan, is accused of holding her stepson captive in a tiny room for more than 20 years.

She allegedly fed him two sandwiches and a cup of water a day, occasionally making him drink from the toilet, and only allowing him outside briefly to take the family dog out.

The victim set their Waterbury house on fire with printer paper, hand sanitizer, and a lighter in a desperate attempt to find rescue.

Police say he was 68 pounds when he was rescued.

“He’s 5′9″. I’m 5′4″, okay. 68 pounds? That’s what a 5 year old weighs. That’s not what a 32 year old man weighs,” Tessman said.

Tessman’s half brother, the victim, is now hospitalized.

He is recovering after years of physical and emotional abuse, according to police.

Tessman claims her half brother’s father and two step sisters were living in the home with Kimberley Sullivan, but were loved and cared for.

When the victim’s father, Kregg Sullivan, died last year, Tessman ramped up her search for her half brother.

Somehow, she says no one outside the house knew where he was. She says the ones inside the home were lying to her.

Just like her initial searches, everything she tried failed.

“I think, personally, that she didn’t like that he was not her son and she took it out on him. Her daughters, they got to go to school, have friends, jobs, have a life. What did he get? A jail cell. For what? Locks on the outside of the door? Are you kidding me? You don’t treat people like that,” Tessman said.

Tessman wants her half sisters held responsible too. She claims they were complicit.

“I want to see them all fried. They deserve solitary confinement for the rest of their lives, drink out of the toilet,” she said.

Police are still investigating to see if more charges are warranted.

Kimberley Sullivan will be back in court a week from tomorrow.

Her attorney says she plans on pleading not guilty.